Russell Frustrated By Mercedes Orders During Sao Paulo GP: 'Very Painful'
F1
George Russell expressed his frustration with Mercedes's strategy orders after finishing fourth at the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Interlagos Circuit is where the Mercedes F1 driver George Russell scored his first Grand Prix victory. During the 21st round of the 2024 season, he could have scored another win at this track, as he was leading the race for the first 28 laps.
However, as heavy rainfall began, Mercedes ordered the 26-year-old F1 driver to pit, which might not have been a wrong decision, but Russell paid for it when Franco Colapinto's crash triggered a red flag four laps later.
The Mercedes driver lost three positions to Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon, and Pierre Gasly as a result and could not recover any of them until the end of the race, so he crossed the finish line in P4.
When asked whether the decision to pit during the heavy rain cost him at least a podium (and perhaps even a victory), the Mercedes F1 driver told the media in Sao Paulo:
"Very painful, all things considered; not much I want to say, really."
George Russell explained that he was convinced he should have stayed out as he anticipated the red flag. The Briton revealed what the communication was between him and his team:
"It was 'box'. I said 'stay out'. It was 'box' again, it was 'stay out', I said. And they said 'box' again. As I said, 'I want to stay out'. And then the last one, you've got to go for it..."
"Sometimes you have to trust your gut. Last time I trusted my gut, it went down pretty well."
The last time Russell trusted his gut was in Belgium when he decided to go for a one-stop strategy during the race. Thanks to this decision, he crossed the finish line in P1 (although he didn't win because he got disqualified through no fault of his own).
"Today, who knows if we could have won the race? But if we didn't pit, we would have been leading at the restart and the first 30 laps controlling the pace."
"With Lando behind us, we had very good straightline speed as well. P2 would have been a minimum."
"Clearly, the guys who didn't pit, they finished 1-2-3, and we finished the highest of the drivers who did. So I would take a small slice of satisfaction from that."
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